The name "fire department," although filled with tradition, is misleading given that today's department has evolved into an emergency service department capable of handling a full range of circumstances. The Operations Division has become all-inclusive to include all suppression personnel, including Advanced Life Support personnel, truck drivers and EMT’s.

Battalion Chiefs supervise the shift personnel, providing continuity among the shifts and oversight of various projects and programs including the Advanced Life Support program, communications, personnel training and maintenance of all buildings, apparatus and equipment.

Captains and Firefighters respond to calls as dispatched by Public Safety Communications. Foster City is committed to providing excellent service delivery, and will respond on a variety of non-emergency public service calls on an "as available" basis, as well as responding to all emergency calls. Captains and firefighters also have the opportunity to be involved in special projects through their Battalion Chiefs that relate to their personal skills and interests.

In 2012, the Fire Department responded to 2044 calls for service, 981 of which were medical in nature. The Fire Department continues to achieve a 98% JPA compliance response rate for medical responses. This means that we respond to medical calls within 6 minutes, 59 seconds, as defined in the contract, 98% of the time.